Residents in the vicinity of the Sappi mill are concerned about a foul smell that came from the mill last week.
Several residents noted an odor similar to rotten eggs coming from the mill around 5 p.m. Dec. 12. Steven Bacon, who lives on King Street, said he noticed the odor as he was driving past the mill. He said he and his wife also smelled the odor when they returned home about 10 minutes after first noticing it.
Tom Howard, the environmental manager at the mill, said he looked into the complaints and discovered the odor did come from the mill, but it was part of the normal boiler operation and it was nothing dangerous. He said the smell came from the mill’s treatment plant, which is used to remove minerals from the water used in the boiler.
Howard said several times per week the mill regenerates the system that removes the minerals from the boiler water, and that process can produce a rotten egg smell. He said typically little or no smell escapes the mill site, but on that afternoon, the wind conditions were just right to blow some of the odor off the mill property.
The smell comes at a time when some residents are concerned about emissions coming from the mill. Sappi has applied for a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection to burn construction and demolition waste in one of its boilers. One citizens’ group, Westbrook for Clean Air, has formed to fight the proposal.
Bacon, a member of Westbrook for Clean Air, said the smell on Monday affirmed his concern over what the mill is putting into the air. “I am not only concerned about the daily emissions from Sappi, I am also very concerned that Sappi will have an accident and somehow release chemicals into the air that are very harmful, ” said Bacon. “That was what I thought of when I smelled the sulfur smell yesterday.”
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